Posts tagged ‘relationships’

As you may already know, FIRST engages in social media, in a plethora of different ways, all in an effort to educate, inspire and connect all those affected with icththyosis. Some days we are greeted with posts and comments that offer new and unexpected skin care tips – other days it might be a mom looking for support, or an affected person who just wants to have their voice heard. And still at other times, social media brings us to the very doorstep of compassionate souls – ones we likely will never even meet – out there in the world, advocating for our members.

As volunteering and fundraising are a big part of our efforts to support the community, a few weeks ago we decided to post an online poll to facebook asking followers to tell us, in a single word – what volunteering actually feels like. Then, we kicked back (only for a minute!) and watched as comment after comment filed in. So, today after weeks of analogy, contemplation, and discussion, we are happy to announce, that social media has now served us in a new and exciting way. It helped support a theory; one that we can now confidently and indisputably share with you, right here, right now.

{Insert drum roll} Doing good…feels good!

Yes, that’s it. That’s our theory. Wait…don’t leave! We have since found out that our theory is simply a scratch on the surface of a much bigger, broader, biology-based, “do good” theory! In fact, did you know that there is a biochemical reason for helper’s high?

We’ve even found someone who has dedicated his work and his life to researching this very theory and we are happy to welcome guest blogger, Dr. David R. Hamilton, PhD, a friend of FIRST, scientist, speaker and the author of ‘Why Kindness is Good for You’ and ‘The Contagious Power of Thinking’, and the creator of the popular blog “Using Science to Inspire.”

The 5 Side Effects of Kindness

by David R. Hamilton PhD

When we think of side effects the first thing that springs to mind are the side effects of drugs. But who’d have thought that kindness could have side effects too?

Well, it does! And positive ones at that.

1) Kindness Makes us Happier
When we do something kind for someone else, we feel good. On a spiritual level, many people feel that this is because it is the right thing to do and so we’re tapping into something deep and profound inside of us that says, ‘This is who I am.’ On a biochemical level, it is believed that the good feeling we get is due to elevated levels of the brain’s natural versions of morphine and heroin, which we know as endogenous opioids. They cause elevated levels of dopamine in the brain and so we get a natural high, often referred to as ‘Helper’s High’.

2) Kindness Gives us Healthier Hearts
Acts of kindness are often accompanied by emotional warmth. Emotional warmth produces the hormone, oxytocin, in the brain and throughout the body. Of recent interest is its significant role in the cardiovascular system. Oxytocin causes the release of a chemical called nitric oxide in blood vessels, which dilates (expands) the blood vessels. This reduces blood pressure and therefore oxytocin is known as a ‘cardioprotective’ hormone because it protects the heart (by lowering blood pressure). The key is that acts kindness can produce oxytocin and therefore kindness can be said to be cardioprotective.

3) Kindness Slows Ageing
Ageing on a biochemical level is a combination of many things, but two culprits that speed the process are Free Radicals and Inflammation, both of which result from making unhealthy lifestyle choices.

But remarkable research now shows that oxytocin (that we produce through emotional warmth) reduces levels of free radicals and inflammation in the cardiovascular system and so slows ageing at source. Incidentally these two culprits also play a major role in heart disease so this is also another reason why kindness is good for the heart.

There have also been suggestions in the scientific journals of the strong link between compassion and the activity of the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve, as well as regulating heart rate, also controls inflammation levels in the body. One study that used the Tibetan Buddhist’s ‘Loving Kindness Compassion’ meditation found that kindness and compassion did, in fact, reduce inflammation in the body, mostly likely due to its effects on the vagus nerve.

4) Kindness Makes for Better Relationships
This is one of the most obvious points. We all know that we like people who show us kindness. This is because kindness reduces the emotional distance between two people and so we feel more ‘bonded’. It’s something that is so strong in us that it’s actually a genetic thing. We are wired for kindness.

Our evolutionary ancestors had to learn to cooperate with one another. The stronger the emotional bonds within groups, the greater were the chances of survival and so ‘kindness genes’ were etched into the human genome. So today when we are kind to each other we feel a connection and new relationships are forged, or existing ones strengthened.

5) Kindness is Contagious
When we’re kind we inspire others to be kind and studies show that it actually creates a ripple effect that spreads outwards to our friends’ friends’ friends – to 3-degrees of separation. Just as a pebble creates waves when it is dropped in a pond, so acts of kindness ripple outwards touching others’ lives and inspiring kindness everywhere the wave goes. A recent scientific study reported than an anonymous 28-year-old person walked into a clinic and donated a kidney. It set off a ‘pay it forward’ type ripple effect where the spouses or other family members of recipients of a kidney donated one of theirs to someone else in need. The ‘domino effect’, as it was called in the New England Journal of Medicine report, spanned the length and breadth of the United States of America, where 10 people received a new kidney as a consequence of that anonymous donor.